Final Fantasy XIII-2 gets release date update, Versus still M.I.A

We have some good news for those of you thinking of picking up Final Fantasy XIII-2, as we have just heard some official details from Square-Enix with regards to release information for the anticipated sequel to XIII.

As most of you are probably aware, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the follow-up title to the mildly received FFXIII and the developers behind the game have used a Twitter account to narrow down a release period for when the game will be out.

According to Emily Shoji, Assistant PR Manager at Square Enix, the game will be hitting North America sometime in the new year, as confirmed by her recent Tweet below:

”FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 is slated for a January 2012 release for North America. Be excited!”

While it’s a shame that we don’t have a solid release date to give you, it’s at least satisfying to know that the game is out in around six months time – we are a bit surprised that Square Enix are releasing it this soon though, what with their announcement of the game only coming a few months ago and the fact that they don’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to releasing new Final Fantasy titles on schedule.

Another aspect which will be lingering on Final Fantasy fans minds will be what has happened to Final Fantasy Versus XIII? It’s great that we know know XIII-2 is coming in January, but ask the majority of Final Fantasy fans and they’ll tell you that the game they are most looking forward to is Versus XIII, rather than the sequel to XIII.

Hopefully the upcoming Tokyo Game Show will reveal upcoming details about Versus as we have to admit that we’re not as excited for details on XIII-2 as we are for Versus XIII. Having said that, we do know that a lot of you are still pretty pumped up for XIII-2 so this official release date will be the best news you’ve heard this week.

For those of you who are interested in porting the original version of Final Fantasy XIII-2, it will be available to buy in Japan first, before the end of the year. Just like XIII, XIII-2 will be available on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 so it will be interesting to see how similar Square-Enix has managed to get both versions running, as it’s often the cause of much debate amongst both console owners.

Are you planning to pick up Final Fantasy XIII-2, or are you giving the sequel a miss?